Grafton and Kempsey

We are just ambling down th New Soth Wales coastline. Grafton is a stop for one night for no particular reason other than that we only had to drive 167km. We set up in the Grafton Showground, plenty of room, toilets and showers leave a bit to be desired. It is very close to the town centre.

Grafton Bridge

A lot of Grey Nomads fear driving across the Grafton Bridge because of a couple of sharp bends, which along with narrow lanes and the bridge railings make for a potentially exciting drive. There is no need to be worried, as you approach the corners you need to move over the white line. The approaching traffic see your intention and and stop and give way, thus allowing you to go further into the other lane and be able to proceed around the corner. A little common sense is needed but in the main you will have no problems.

We drove 198km to Kempsey, which is a little larger than I imagined and setup in the showground camping area. We met up with my parents who drove 700km from Canberra on the way to Brisbane for the weekend to visit my sister, before spending 4 weeks on the Gold Coast. The showground is very close to everything and the toilets and showers are a little better than a lot of facilities in other showgrounds.

My parents arrived at around 4.30pm and quickly settled in to a motel room that Dianne and I had found for them a little earlier. A quick drive to the showground to the showground to see where we were set up and we went to a local pub for a great feed. We said our goodbyes from our short catchup as Mum and Dad were setting off early for a shorter 500km leg to Brisbane.

Trial Bay and South West Rocks

Day 2 in Kempsey was filled in with a drive to Trial Bay and South West Rocks. What a great area and we will be back for a few days on a later trip, guarenteed. On the way in we had a detour into Hat Head for a quick look. With Dianne’s crook knee we just had a quick look but it would be interesting as there looks to be a couple of short walks around the shoreline.

A small beach is surrounded by rocky headlands on both sides, plenty of surf rolling in

We next ventured up to the Smoky Point Lighthouse. . A quick climb for some great views up and down the coastline. Lots of walking tracks here as well, but again we didn’t venture along any of them.

The view north of the lighthouse

The view south of the lighthouse

Next on the agenda was lunch and we hit the jackpot here, what a feed, couldn’t eat it and it was well priced at a little fish and chip shop right on the beach at South West Rocks.

I don’t post pictures of food very often, but this was as a good feed I have had on this trip

Even the loo’s look flash

Lovely caravan park to the right and they have some big rig sites, a small shopping centre just behind the tree line. It would a be a great place to spend a few days. We will be back on a future trip.

Lunch over and we headed to the Trial Bay Gaol. For a S10 entry fee we were treated to a great look at the early penal system and a WW1 internment camp. Although a lot of it was sold for scrap it is still a fabulous spot for a look at our early history.There was a great little caravan park only 500m before the Gaol that looks like a great spot

A cast iron walkway was removed for scrap, such a pity but no doubt not any different from the lower level

No way was I letting Dianne near the lock or I might still be there

We had a great day in the area and we will definately be coming back here one day to fully explore and lay back for a few days. It looks like a great spot.

We had such a good day we didn’t even get to see the Slim Dusty Centre. It is on the road towards Sydney. If all goes well we may see it tommorrow.